Court Watching: Richard Jackson, Jr. pleads guilty to second degree murder of wife

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
On Monday, Richard Elmer Jackson, Jr., 39, of Van Buren Township pled guilty to second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his wife, Travisteene, 38, last December.
His jury trial on a first-degree murder charge was due to begin Nov. 12. The first-degree charge was dismissed in the plea deal.
Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 3 before Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Timothy M. Kenny.
Jackson has been held without bond in the Wayne County Jail since his arrest at his Greenwood Court home on Dec. 17.
The night of the murder, the two children of the couple had been taken to stay the night with a family friend, whose husband testified at district court that she had been concerned about the welfare of the children.
She had asked Travisteene to come with them, but reportedly Travisteene declined the offer.
Van Buren Township Police were dispatched to the home at about 3:37 a.m. for a “suicidal male subject” after receiving concerned calls from Jackson’s friends and relatives.
Jackson refused to open the door for the police, but Lt. Charles Bazzy established telephone contact with him and persuaded him to open the front door and speak to the officers.
When he opened the door, police became concerned for his safety and the safety of other residents in the house because of the inappropriate way the man was dressed and the blood on his clothes.
They performed a welfare check in the home and found Travisteen’s body on the floor covered with a blanket.
Jackson told police he had two past failed suicide attempts and police said they believed the incident was a murder-suicide that went wrong.
Jackson was defended by retained attorney William Otis Culpepper. Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor on the case was Mary F. Rubio.